Miami’s tackling issues are starting to pile up, and Corey Hetherman isn’t sugarcoating the fix.
After the No. 6 Hurricanes beat Wake Forest on Friday, the defensive coordinator pointed straight at the basics: fewer launch-and-lunge attempts, more clean finishes.
Miami was charged with 15 missed tackles by Pro Football Focus in the win, including a sequence where defensive end Marquise Lightfoot had Wake Forest quarterback Gio Lopez wrapped up for a sack, only for Lopez to slip away. Defensive tackle Ahmad Moten Sr. arrived to help finish the play, but Lopez escaped again before eventually throwing the ball away.
“He was real slippery,” Lightfoot said after the game.
PFF graded Miami’s tackling at 36.8 in the game, and the last two weeks have been rough. The Hurricanes missed 11 tackles against Florida A&M the week before, when PFF gave them a 43.3 tackling grade. That 43.3 is also Miami’s season mark, and it ranks 130th nationally.
Hetherman said the answer is not chasing a bigger hit.
“Give those guys credit; I think they’ve got some really good players in their offense, especially at the skill positions,” Hetherman said. “But our guys, we’ve got to trust the system.
We’re launching, we’re lunging, we’re diving, we’re not stepping on toes, we’re not pinning the knees, we’re not using the system. We’ve just got to get back to that.
We do it every week, and that’ll be the focus point again. It’s just getting back to the details and the fundamentals, not trying to make the highlight hit, but just go get the guy down.”
The numbers show this is more than a one-game blip. Miami missed 15 or more tackles three times in 16 games last season, including 15 against Texas A&M, 15 against Virginia Tech and 24 in a loss to Louisville. Last year’s team finished with a 55.6 tackling grade from PFF, which ranked 115th nationally.
Hetherman said the emphasis now is on technique and pursuit. Miami’s defensive motto is E.S.V. - excitement, swarm, violence - and the coordinator said the swarm piece matters just as much as the first hit.
“In college football, you play against great players every week,” Hetherman said. “You’re going to miss tackles.
In the NFL, you’re going to miss tackles. (In) college football, you’re going to miss tackles.
And that’s where to me, it’s all about the swarm.”
Miami does not do much live tackling in season, but coach Mario Cristobal said the staff still drills positioning and technique.
“Chasing and finishing is a big part of it,” Cristobal said, “because if you know where your help is at and you get there and you happen to miss, at least you could force that thing the other way, leverage the ball and get somebody on the ground.”
Safety Zechariah Poyser and defensive lineman Damon Wilson II said this week’s message has been centered on those fundamentals as Miami tries to clean things up before facing Central Michigan on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. on CW. The Hurricanes are favored by 41 points.
“I think that’s just taking the preparation, just trusting the system. A lot of times, you know, we try to go out there and (we) panic and do our own things,” Poyser said.
“But I think we just trust the system. The times we do trust the system, you look great.
You know, the times we don’t (are) the times we fall off.
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